Since 1987, the global income classification landscape has changed significantly, with the share of economies classified as low-income declining from 30% to 11%. These shifts have not been evenly distributed, however, with some countries moving across income groups much faster than others. This year’s update to the World Bank Group Country Income Classifications shows six countries moved to a higher income category, but each has a different story to tell: a country emerging from economic crisis, an export powerhouse outpacing its peers, and an economy that turned out to be 10% larger than previously thought are just three of them. 

On July 1 of each year, the Development Data Group — the World Bank Group’s development data hub — updates the classifications according to gross national income (GNI) per capita estimates from the previous calendar year, placing the economies assessed into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high. This year's edition covers 218 countries, and the results will serve as a global reference until the end of June 2027.

The update matters because the classifications inform which countries can access concessional loans and development assistance, and help governments, researchers and a wide range of international organizations track economic progress worldwide.

 GNI per capita is measured in USD dollars — using the Atlas methodology — and adjusted to smooth out short-term swings in exchange rates. The thresholds that define each income group are adjusted annually to account for inflation. Economic and population growth, shifts in national accounts, and revisions to underlying data can also influence the categorization. 

Six unique journeys 

This year, none of the countries assessed moved down. Five moved from lower-middle to upper-middle income: Jordan, Micronesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam. One moved from low to lower-middle income: Togo. They reached the same thresholds through very different paths.

1. Viet Nam tells a story of growth. Powered by an export-led model, the country saw exports surge by more than 15% in both 2024 and 2025, with its GDP growing at 7% and 8% respectively. GNI expanded at an average of 10% annually between 2021 and 2025 — one of the strongest sustained runs in the region.
   
   
2. The Philippines achieved its reclassification through broad-based expansion. GDP grew at an average of 5.8% per year over five years, reflecting gains across all major industries, not a single sector boom, but an economy-wide shift.
   
   
3. Sri Lanka is a story of recovery. Just three years after a severe economic crisis brought the country to the brink of collapse in 2022, real GDP grew by 5% in 2025, driven by a rebound across industries and growth in financial and tourism services. The reclassification is a marker of resilience, though the country only narrowly crossed the threshold.
   
   
4. Micronesia achieved modest but steady growth following a prolonged COVID-19 recovery, with construction and agriculture as the main drivers. A significant decline in net primary income tempered the overall gains.
   
   
5. Jordan was reclassified because of a comprehensive revision of its national accounts. When Jordan's Department of Statistics completed a rebasing exercise, it found that the economy was nearly 10% larger than previously estimated, as a result of expanded statistical coverage through updated surveys, new data sources and enhanced national accounts compilation methodology. Combined with steady growth of 2.8% in 2025, the revised data pushed the country clearly across the threshold.
   
   
6. Togo moved from low to lower-middle income, but its story is one of a population revision. Following the release of detailed results from the 2022 census, the country's population estimate was reduced by 11.7%. Since income is measured per person, a smaller population produces a higher per capita figure, even without a change in total income. GDP did grow by 5.9% in 2025, and exchange rate movements also played a role, but the population revision was the deciding factor.

The Country Income Classifications’ methodology is rigorous. Each round, the latest data available is used to ensure categorizations reflect the most accurate picture, but no single measure can fully capture the complexity of a country's development.

However, over the past four decades, thousands of data points have been analyzed annually to produce the classifications, and the number of economies assessed has increased gradually — in 1987, 163 countries were included in the list, in 2025, 218 — which make the Country Income Classifications a reliable tool to contextualize the global economy, to understand where countries have been, and to some extent, the direction they are heading to.